Author: Erica Meltzer CHALKBEAT COLORADO
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Wins, losses, and split decisions: Here’s how Colorado school district tax measures fared
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Voters in more than two dozen Colorado school districts agreed to tax increases on Tuesday, with some districts seeing success after several previous attempts failed. The districts ranged from the state’s second-largest, Jeffco Public Schools in Denver’s western suburbs, to the 96-student Hinsdale County district in southwest Colorado. Of 21 mill levy overrides on the…
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Backers of Amendment 73 look to the future as voters reject school funding measure
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With Colorado’s third attempt to raise taxes for education going down to defeat, backers of Amendment 73 looked to the future Tuesday. Lisa Weil of Great Education Colorado said that the conversation around school funding was forever changed, with even opponents admitting the need for more resources in the classroom and better pay for teachers.…
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What the Democratic ‘blue wave’ on Election Night in Colorado means for education
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Colorado voters on Tuesday elected a governor who ran on bold education promises but rejected a tax increase that would have made it easier to pay for them. They also gave control of the state Senate to Democrats for the first time since 2014, increased the Democratic majority in the state House, and elected Democrats…
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What Proposition 112 would mean for Colorado schools
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Therese Gilbert wears an Amendment 73 button to show support for more school funding, but she’s knocking on doors seeking votes for Proposition 112. A Greeley middle school teacher, Gilbert has spent years trying to keep oil and gas activity away from schools in her district. She collected some 900 signatures to get Proposition 112…
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What happens if voters put an extra $1.6 billion into Colo.’s broken school finance system?
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Alison Corbett has little trouble ticking off the ways that more money would make a difference for her students at High Tech Early College in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood. One more teacher for students learning English would allow for separate classes for different levels of proficiency. More counselors could help the school’s highest achieving students successfully…
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Amendment 73: Understanding the tax increase for education on your Colorado ballot
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Colorado voters face an important education decision this November: whether to approve a major statewide tax increase for schools. This request represents the third time in recent years that Colorado voters have been asked to put more money into schools. The last two times, they gave a resounding no. Amendment 73 comes on the heels…
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In Colorado’s high-poverty schools, many teachers are just starting their careers
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This story is part of a partnership between Chalkbeat and the nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica. Using federal data from Miseducation, an interactive database built by ProPublica, we are publishing a series of stories exploring inequities in education at the local level. Koli Jamerson’s residency program gave her tools that she uses every day as…
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Colorado teachers take to the streets for Amendment 73
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Waving “Yes on Amendment 73” signs, Denver teachers formed red-shirted clusters along Colfax Avenue Friday afternoon. “We’re just trying to get people to support teachers,” said Danette Slater, an elementary teacher at Academia Ana Marie Sandoval in northwest Denver. “We need the funding, and so do our kids.” Amendment 73 would raise Colorado’s corporate tax…
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These 5 Colorado schools won the nation’s top education honor
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Five Colorado schools, including Denver’s most requested elementary school, have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools. Blue Ribbon schools must have test scores in the top 15 percent in their state with no significant gaps separating students from different demographics, or have shown “extraordinary progress” in closing those…
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Some Colorado schools brace for state intervention, while others cheer their progress
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Two Colorado school districts and six individual schools failed to show enough improvement to raise their ratings under the state’s accountability system. Unless they successfully appeal their preliminary ratings this fall, they’ll remain on state-mandated improvement plans. Those include the 7,500-student Adams 14 district based in Commerce City, which is likely to face additional state…